Rabbit had her babies, HELP!

[flockof5]

I bred my Champagne D'argent doe to her buck a month ago, and she had her babies tonight! But two were dead by the time we found out she'd had them. I think she stomped on them in her nest. There are at least three alive right now.

Do we need to do anything to make sure no more die? We pulled her out and clipped her nails, they were too long. She was already out of the nest. We fed her and she stayed out of the nest the whole time we were out there. She was eating.

Do the babies NEED her to stay in the nest to survive? Should we pick her up and put her in the nest? Or is it normal for her to not be in it? She just had them about 4 hours ago.

We are brand new to this, and every site I see about bunnies talks about NOT breeding them. But we have a rare heritage breed, that is VERY friendly and nice, too (Champagne D'Argent). So we are doing this to sell the babies (high demand) and keep the doe and buck as backup for meat if things get crazy.

Help a rabbit amateur!

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

Don't worry........ Yet. Momma buns spend very little time in the nest box. At this point all I would do is make sure there is plenty of hair to line and cover the nest.
Tomorrow morning I'd check all the babies tummies first run your hands all over mom to get her scent. They should look pudgy not skinney. If any look thinner than the rest set them aside, flip mom over and cradel her like a football with her head under your arm. Then set one baby at a time on her stomach to nurse. You'll see them plump up like tics.
If she's a first time mom and having trouble producing milk you can give her a sprinkle of brewers yeast on her food.

But again momma buns spend very little time in the nest so don't worry if you never catch her in it. Just keep checking their tummies twice a day and help any rungs by holding mom to allow them to nurse.

 

[chinbunny]

best thing to do is to leave her alone, and check the nest once a day for any dead babies. She will feed them twice day. Once at night. Once in the morning. Does only spend about ten minutes a day. Just long enough to feed them.

 

[flockof5]

Thanks!

I checked the kits around noon, and none of them had really plump tummies. One looked a bit thinner than the other two.

Should their tummies look fuller by now?

Also, it is in the 90's here. Is that too hot? Should I take the nest inside during the day?

 

[Califowlday]

Sometimes baby bunnies wonder away from the rest of the babies and get chilled appearing dead. I have had this happen with tons of litters. All you have to do is warm them up against your body is best as a heating pad can get too warm. I have had so many babies appear to "come back to life" after warming them up.

 

[Isablahblah]

hey where are the pix i wana see bunny!

 

[chinbunny]

Their tummies should be full and round by now. Stick a little bit of feed in behind them, to encourage her to jump in and feed them.